Project Espionage
by NovaxGothica
Summary: Sakura, code name: Cherry Blossom, is a well known agent who follows her instincts. But during one of her missions, something goes horribly wrong and she's left with no information, one cell phone, one serious problem, and only a couple of friends. What's a girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

"Sasuke!" a female voice called out for his attention.

Sakura watched her seemingly unaware target as a girl draped herself over his arm.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed, her blond ponytail bobbing with each step.

Making a face, Sakura focused her attention back to the boy know as 'Sasuke'. She quietly fell down to the ground, landing on her feet with ease and utter silence.

"What's your status? Over." a familiar voice came across the comms unit tucked away in her left ear.

"Pursuing target now." Sakura muttered softly, concealing herself in the shadows. "Watch my six. Over."

"Jeez, Ino." Sasuke laughed. "We'll meet Naruto and the others there!"

Sakura heard the girl giggle and pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a white ribbon. "Excuse me!" She exclaimed loudly, running up behind the young couple. "Sorry to disturb you, but would you mind giving a couple of seconds of your time to help me with a survey for a class project?" She was smiling brilliantly, dark green eyes sparkling with hope.

"Okay, sure." Ino smiled back at her, nudging Sasuke in the side.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Excellent!" Sakura handed the two of them clipboards and pens, then watched as they clicked and gasped in surprise, breathing in the sudden poof of nontoxic sleeping powder.

* * *

"Good work," the voice that belonged to the man in charge complimented and affectionately tousled Sakura's hair. "You made good use of your instincts."

"Thank you, Kakashi-san." Sakura smiled at her handler.

"Well we don't need the girl," Kakashi told her. "And our employer strictly said no unnecessary baggage."

Sakura nodded, eyeing the girl warily.

"I'll have Asuma take her home. In the meantime," Kakashi turned towards the unconscious Sasuke tied up in the back of the van. "I want you and Anko to get a room ready for our temporary guest."

"Yes, sir." Sakura gave a short salute before climbing into the front of the van with Anko driving.

Before setting off, Anko tied her hair in a high pony tail at the top of her head. "Good work Cherry Blossom."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled at her code name. "I was kind of nervous."

"It gets better," Anko assured her. "Trust me."

About an hour in the drive, towards what they called home, a groan came loudly from the back.

"I think he's awake." Sakura said casually, looking back over her shoulder. "Are you awake?"

"What..." Sasuke grumbled softly. "Where am I?"

"Medusa, he's awake." Sakura turned towards Anko. "Should I knock him out again?"

"Hmm.. I'm not sure. I thought the powder lasted longer than that."

"I did too.' Sakura poked the boys face.

"Call it in, just to be safe." Anko told her, reaching for a walky-talky and an ear peice on the dashboard.

Sakura held the ear peice over her ear. "Masked Man, this is Cherry Blossom en route. Sleeping Beauty has been kissed, I repeat, Sleeping Beauty has been kissed. Over."

"Cherry Blossom this is Red Haze, I read you." a familiar voice called through the receiver. "Masked Man has received blowback. Terminate en route and circle back home. Over."

"What do I do about Sleeping Beauty?" Sakura glanced at Anko who was in the process of making a right. "Over."

"Cast another spell. Maintain radio silence. Over." Red Haze ordered.

"Well?" Anko questioned as Sakura opened a bottle, a pleasant aroma filling the van.

"One moment," Sakura took unbuckled herself and crawled into the back seat next to Sasuke. She took a sip from the bottle and forced her lips on his, forcing the liquid into his mouth.

Sasuke struggled for a moment before drifting off to sleep.

"Masked Man recieved blowback, Red Haze wants us to circle back home and she wants us to keep up radio silence."

"What are we supposed to do with Sleeping Beauty?" Anko questioned, obviously irritated as she began to make a u-turn.

"I'm not sure. I could try to reach Wind Blade."

"Red Haze wants radio silence." Anko sighed. "Well this just went downhill."

Sakura took out her cell phone, a sleek black flip mobile. "Who else knew about the Princess?"

"Blind Bandit, he's part of the Shadow team. But his mission ended a couple of days ago."

"Exactly, he might know something."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" a husky voice grumbled.

"Neji?" Sakura asked tentavily. "It's Sakura."

Anko had stopped at gas station.

"Sakura?" Neji cleared his throat. "How'd the mission go?"

"We got him, but something happened t Kakashi. Kurenai wants us to go home, but everyone is mute."

"What the hell happened?" Neji questione.

"We aren't entirely sure." Sakura watched as a couple of kids around her age got out of a red truck and went inside the store. "All we know is that we have someone sleeping with nowhere to put him."

"Damn," Neji breathed. "I'll keep my eyes and ears open. In the meantime don't do anything reckless, I'll try to open up some favors."

"Thanks, I owe you." Sakura waited for Neji to hang up before heading over to where Anko stood, filling up the van.

"He hasn't heard anything, but he'll keep me posted and try to open a few favors."

Anko nodded her head, nervously running her hand through her hair. "We might need to get a hold of a cobbler and ghoul. I don't feel right being naked like this."

"Let's see where we are," Sakura tried, opening her phone to use the GPS.

Before either could say anything, a voice called in from the radio.

"Hello, women and gentleman! It's that time of year where the cherry blossoms are absolutely stunning, which means its high time to shed your masks from winter and embrace spring!"

The mysterious voice repeated the phrase one more time before either Sakura or Anko realized what was going on.

"Oh shit!"

Sakura reacted first and plugged in her phone to the radio, trying to get a signal.

"Did we get anything?" Anko asked, pretending to get her wallet.

"I got the last part.. right after its high time through spring." Sakura told her.

"Alright, I'm going to go pay. Keep an eye on the princess while I'm gone."

Sakura nodded and waited in the van, keeping an eye on Anko and her ears open. She quietly looked up where they were on a map tucked away in the console. "I guess the closest city is Konoha..."

"Ready?" Anko asked as she got in the car. "Where are we heading?"

"Konoha." Sakura put down the map. "But what do we do about the Princess?" She motioned at Sasuke in the back, still unconcious from the liquid she gave him.

"I don't know." Anko confessed, moving on to the highway. "We can't just abandon the mission, can we?"

"I don't even know anymore. I think Masked Man sent the broadcast, he used my name along with the word masks."

"It sounded like him, we should sent up a music box to make sure."

"I don't know the first thing about setting up a music box, only people on our team I know can do that are Red Haze, Masked Man, and Green Beast."

"Yeah, you're right."

Sakura glanced back at Sasuke who started to stir.

"Maybe he won't remember anything, we could execute a dead drop or brush pass."

"Maybe," Anko snorted. "Red Haze wants radio silence, how are we supposed to do any of those?"

"Well we can't just drag him along everywhere all tied up like that. It's way too dangerous for that."

"Okay, okay. Let me think." Anko retorted, biting on her lower lip. "Dial this number and pay attention. I'll only say it once."


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura made the phone call for her and Anko to meet with someone in Konoha, with the help of Anko's contact and a few favors from Neji. When they arrived in the bustling city, they were given more instructions as to where they should go.

"Here, turn here." Sakura pointed at a stop sign. "Left. Neji said he'd meet us at a hotel somewhere on this street."

"So what am I looking for?" Anko questioned, making the designated turn.

"A large neon sign in the shape of a leaf." Sakura responded, checking the short text he had sent earlier that day.

"Here we are," Anko parked the van in the underground parking lot. "Do you see anyone?"

Sakura dialed her friends number and smiled to see him open a door to a black town car, phone to his ear.

"I see you." Was all he said before hanging up.

The two girls got out and walked towards him.

"Well?" Sakura asked eagerly.

Neji looked as if he hadn't slept in days, the dark bags under his eyes made him look ill.

"It isn't good. Everyone is saying your entire team went MIA," Neji rubbed his eyes.

"What?" Anko sounded genuinely surprised. "Everyone?"

"Unfortunately," Neji nodded his head. "Hatake has been missing for a while, my handler thinks he's a double agent."

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked, afraid to know the answer.

"It means that everyone he ever worked with, icluding both of you, are to be considered as traitors until we find more intelligence about Hatake's intentions."

"Which could mean Red Haze and Wind Blade were working with him?" Anko exclaimed.

"Probably," Neji turned his gaze behind him. "I was able to get a hold of a ghoul and cobbler, my sister was able to find covers for both of you."

"But won't you be suspected as a traitor for helping us?" Sakura questioned, taking the packet she was given.

"Possibly," Neji responded with a sly smile. "But then so would Pineapple, my sister, Red Sand, Puppet Master, and Kazikaze would have to be investigated, too. They all had something to do with getting these covers." Neji handed a similar looking packet to Anko. "Speaking of, Red Sand and Kazikaze agreed to take the Princess off your hands. We agreed you left a music box in my email from an unknown address."

"Thank you." Anko told him.

"Your contact told me to let you know that makes you two even."

"Fine by me." Anko smiled to herself.

"You two will have to split up, it'll be safer that way." Neji ran his hand through his hair. "Come on."

* * *

Sakura opened the envelope and pulled out an ID card as the hairdresser did her job.

_'Sakura Haruno, age seventeen, born March 30th.' _

She looked at the rest of the paperwork, everything looked real and legal enough. Sakura pulled out a small, white wallet filled with the standardized amount of cash for anyone going undercover. She slid her ID where it could be easily seen if needed.

"What else did you want done?" the woman asked delicately, her fingers touching Sakura's damp hair.

Looking at her reflection, Sakura found a teenager who had grown up with everything. Never needing a reason to rebel. "Dye my hair pink."

The stylist gave a look of surprise, "Are you sure?"

"I've never been so sure in my life." Sakura flashed a dazzling smile.

The woman went to work, first bleaching and then contining the process of dying Sakura's locks.

When she was finished getting her hair cut, Sakura was more than pleased to find a motorcycle license inside of her wallet right before she felt the need to shop to her heart's content. Sakura made her way downtown where she found her residence location.

"Hello, may I help you?" the man behind the front desk asked politely.

"Yes, my name is Sakura. Sakura Haruno."


End file.
